Tea Geeks!!!
How could we say no?
They kindly send through two packages. Let's start with the packaging: it's a small brown padded envelope with foil inner and one of those high-end plastic bag closings. Do you know the kind I mean? Not quite a zip lock, but the next best thing. Anyway... I like it. It keeps the tea nice and fresh and is easy to store. Possible getting-lost-in-back-of-cupboard potential, but more efficient than a big box for my tiny cupboards. My packs are 100g which might be tea-taster-sized rather than a commercially purchasable quantity. Still, I think this would do a good few cups.
So I'd give the packaging 8/10 overall. I'm deducting two point because I know that foil-plastic-metal laminates are a bugger to recycle (I'm afraid it's not just tea I am geeky about).
On to the beverages in question!
1. St Margaret's Hope
A black tea. I brewed it lightly. The flavor is nice and deep. It has a bitter edge: I think in one mood I'd find this pleasantly astringent. In another I might call it unpleasantly medicinal. What can I say - I'm just fickle. I think this tea would work well to cut through something like a sticky and overeager Christmas cake. Drinking it with something light like a meringue or violet scented cupcakes might be a mistake as it would overpower subtle flavors.
I'd give it an 8/10 or a 4/10 depending on my mood. Fickle. I am so fickle.
2. Ginger and Lemongrass
This is one of those herbal mixtures which looks brilliant when you open the packet. Because it's loose leaf the chunks are nice and large and you can actually TELL that you have real dried lemongrass, ginger and (I suspect though I am not 100% sure) chamomile in your cup. The smell is lovely - it's like one of those lemon-scented soaps or candles you always want to eat. Or I do. But I don't. Anyway... it brews to a pale lemony-green infusion. The balance of flavors is good: the ginger is warming without being overpowering and the lemon is light and refreshing. This is another one I could see myself drinking this winter: it seems the perfect thing to come home to when it's cold. It tastes like it should be full of Vitamin C and the fragrant fumes feel like they would soothe sore sinuses. I was too lazy to brew this properly.
I'd give this a 10/10. I sometimes find that ginger teas can be over-eager- this one is just right.
Thanks for the tea, www.teageeks.com. I appear to be all set for Winter. :)
